DAVID L. HU
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biology and Adjunct Professor of Physics
The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
August 13, 2017
Dr. David Hu is an experimental fluid dynamicist with expertise in surface-tension and friction phenomena in the natural world. He seeks to be the world's leading researcher in the biomechanics of animal locomotion. The study of flying, swimming and running dates back hundreds of years, and has since shown to be an enduring and rich subject, linking areas as diverse as mechanical engineering, mathematics and neuroscience. Dr. Hu's work in this area has the potential to impact robotics research. Before robots can interact with humans, aid in minimally-invasive surgery, perform interplanetary exploration or lead search-and-rescue operations, we will need a fundamental physical understanding of how related but much simpler tasks are accomplished in their biological counterparts. Dr. Hu has focused on applying engineering techniques to outstanding biological questions regarding the interaction between organisms and their environments. Dr. Hu’s work in these areas has generated broad interest across the fields of engineering, biology and robotics, resulting in over 20 publications, including several in high-impact interdisciplinary journals such as Nature (2003, 2005) and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2009, 2011, 2012) as well as popular journals such as Physics Today (2010) and American Scientist (2010).
Over the years, Dr. Hu's research has also played a role in educating the public in science and engineering. He has been an invited guest on numerous television and radio shows to discuss his research, including Good Morning America (2010), National Public Radio (2009-2010), The Weather Channel (2011), and Discovery Channel (2011). His ant research was featured on the cover of the Washington Post in 2011. His work has also been featured in The Economist, The New York Times, National Geographic, Popular Science and Discover magazine. Most recently, his laboratory appeared on 3D TV as part of a nature documentary by 3DigitalVision, ``Fire ants: the invincible army.''
I. EARNED DEGREES
Degree
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Year
|
University
|
Field
|
Advisor
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Doctor of Philosophy
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2005
|
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
Mathematics
|
John Bush
|
Bachelor of Science
|
2001
|
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
Mechanical Engineering
|
L. Mahadevan
|
|
|
|
(Minor in Math)
|
| II. EMPLOYMENT
Title
|
Organization
|
Years
|
Adjunct Professor
|
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Physics
|
12/12 - present
|
Assistant Professor
(3/4 appointment)
|
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Mechanical Engineering
|
8/08-present
|
Assistant Professor
(1/4 appointment)
|
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Biology
|
8/08-present
|
Instructor of Mathematics
|
Courant Institute of Mathematical
Sciences, New York University
|
9/07-8/08
|
National Science Foundation
Mathematical Sciences
Postdoctoral Fellow
|
Courant Institute of Mathematical
Sciences, New York University
(Advisor: Michael Shelley)
|
9/05-08/07
|
|
|
| III. TEACHING A. Individual Student Guidance PhD Students Supervised
1.Name: Mlot, Nathaniel
Began Advising: Fall 2008
Project: Rheology of Ants
Status: Passed Qualifying exams in 2011, scheduled PhD proposal in 2012
Publications: Mlot, Tovey & Hu PNAS 2011; Mlot, Tovey & Hu 2012 Comm. Integr. Biology
Presentations: APS 2009; APS 2010; Fibers 2011; SICB 2013
2.Name: Marvi, Hamidreza
Began Advising: Spring 2009
Project: Locomotion of Snakes
Status: Passed Qualifying Exams in 2010; Passed PhD proposal in 2011; Completed all classes
Publications: Marvi et al. (2011) ASME DSSC Proceedings; Marvi & Hu (2012 Proc. Roy. Soc Interface); Marvi & Hu (2013) Proc. Roy Soc Interface.
Presentations: APS 2010, DSSC 2011; SICB 2012; APS March 2012; Materials Research Society (MRS) 2012; APS 2012; SICB 2013
3.Name: Dickerson, Andrew
Began Advising: Spring 2009
Project: Active water-repellency
Status: Re-taking qualifying exams 2012
Publications: Dickerson, Mills & Hu (2012) Proc Roy Soc Interface; Dickerson et al, PNAS (2012)
Presentations: APS 2010; APS 2011; SICB 2012
4.Name: Amador, Guillerimo
Began Advising: Fall 2010
Project: Mechanics of seed dispersal
Status: Taking 2nd qualifying exams 2013
Publications: Amador et al (2013) Proc. Roy. Soc: Interface
Presentations: APS 2011; APS 2012
5.Name: Yang, Patricia
Began Advising: Fall 2012
Project: Fog-harvesting plants
Status: Taking classes
Publications: NA
Presentations: NA
M.S. Thesis Students Supervised1
Name: Hobbs, William2
Began Advising: Fall 2008
Graduated: Winter 2009
Thesis: Piezoelectric energy harvesting: vortex induced vibrations in plants, soap films and arrays of cylinders
Publications/presentations: Hobbs & Hu Fluid Struct. Interaction 2011; APS 2009
Position after graduation: Southern Company, Research Engineer
Name: Mulcahey, Thomas
Began Advising: Fall 2008
Graduated: Winter 2009
Thesis: Autonomous cricket biosensors for acoustic localization
Publications/presentations: SICB 2010
Position after graduation: Georgia Tech Mechanical Engineering PhD program
Undergraduates in my lab are mentored by myself and one of my graduate students. Students generally stay on for 1-3 semesters and during that time many undergraduates are coauthors on papers. Many have also won competitive university funding awards such as
-
DURF denotes NYU Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fellow
-
PURA denotes Georgia Tech’s Presidential Undergraduate Research Awardee
After graduation, students often go on to graduate school in science or engineering. In the table below, “Year” denotes the year student joined the lab.
-
Year
|
Student
|
Project
|
Publications and Awards
|
After graduation
|
Lab Quote
|
2013
|
Zhongyang Jet Liu
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Fog harvesting
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|
|
|
|
Ke Xu
|
Flying fish
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|
|
|
|
Sulisay Phonekeo
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Flying fish
|
|
|
|
|
Jason Hsieh
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Sidewinding snakes
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|
|
|
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Abbey Whitley
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Ant bridges
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|
|
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2012
|
Jonathan Pham
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Micturition
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CURE (2 semesters in Hu’s lab and 1 semester in Peking University); PURA
|
|
|
Jerome Choo
|
Micturition
|
|
|
|
James Morrison
|
Ant simulations
|
|
|
|
Michael Gerov
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Ant towers
|
|
|
|
Eric Yi
|
Butterfly flight
|
|
|
|
Puja De
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Eyelash allometry
|
|
|
|
Alex Barberie
|
Puffball mushrooms
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DFD 2012
|
|
|
Bruce Berry
|
Mosquitoes in fog
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PURA
|
|
|
David Kim
|
Mosquitoes in dew
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PURA
|
|
|
2011
|
Peter Shankles
|
Mosquitoes in rain
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PURA
|
|
|
Daniel Christ
|
Sugar bear aerodynamics
|
PURA
|
|
|
Camille Cruz
|
Ant rafts
|
PURA; SURE
|
|
|
Abhishek Kwatra
|
Eyelash simulations
|
|
|
|
Paul Cook
|
Concertina locomotion
|
PURA
|
Medical school
|
|
Yasukuni Yamada
|
Splash cup seed dispersal
|
Amador et al 2012; PURA
|
Japan
|
|
2010
|
Paul Foster
|
CT-scans of ant aggregations
|
|
CMU computer science PhD
|
|
Sho Shinotsuka
|
Ant towers
|
|
Japan
|
|
Micah Streiff
|
CT-scans of ant aggregations
|
|
|
|
Daniel West
|
Mechanics of Mexican jumping Beans
|
Hu et al 2012; SICB 2010; PURA
|
Cummins Diesel and Fuel Systems, Pump Development Engineer
|
|
Ishan Lal
|
A Mexican Jumping Bean Robot
|
Hu et al 2012; PURA
|
|
|
Geoff Russell
|
Scalybot
|
Marvi et al. 2011; Best Paper by ASME
|
Hopkins MS in ME
|
|
Gregory Meyers
|
Scalybot
|
Marvi et al. 2011; Best Paper by ASME
|
|
|
Peter deMercurio
|
Eyelash allometry
|
PURA
|
Gilet
|
|
2009
|
Adrian Martinez
|
Ant clump assembly
|
|
Peace Corps
|
|
Zachary Mills
|
Mechanics of the wet-dog shake
|
Dickerson et al 2012; PURA
|
Georgia Tech PhD
|
|
Paul Richards
|
Mechanics of giant pumpkins
|
Hu et al 2011; PURA
|
Georgia Tech Masters
|
|
2007-2008
|
Terri Scott
|
Mechanics of slithering
|
Hu et al 2009; DURF
|
|
|
Jasmine Nirody
|
Mechanics of slithering
|
Hu et al 2009; DURF
|
Biophysics PhD at Berkeley
|
|
Michael Gordon
|
Turtle shell scaling
|
Hu et al 2011; DURF
|
Master’s program in Statistics at CUNY
|
|
Kelly Sielert
|
Turtle shell scaling
|
Hu et al 2011; DURF
|
Technology consulting
|
|
High School students
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Year
|
Student
|
School
|
Project
|
Publications and Awards
|
After graduation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012
|
|
Wheeler
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wheeler
|
|
|
|
|
Luke Telljohann
|
Westminster
|
Mosquitoes in fog
|
DFD 2012
|
|
|
Frank Chen
|
Chattahoochee High School
|
Eyelash aerodynamics
|
|
Yale Pre-med
|
|
Raghuveer Gummadi
|
Wheeler
|
SEM of ant linkages
|
|
|
2011
|
Nihar Madhavan
|
Duluth high school
|
Mosquitoes in rain
|
Dickerson et al 2012
|
Princeton finance
|
B. Courses Taught
My recent efforts towards curriculum development are given below.
Graduate Courses Viscous flow, ME 6602 Spring 2013
I replaced this lecture-based course with a series of modules to be completed in a problem-based learning environment. I took advantage of the classrooms in the Whitaker building to allow the students to work in groups on their modules.
Graduate fluid mechanics, ME 6601 Fall 2011
I completely restructured this pre-existing course around a mathematical treatment of fluid mechanics with an emphasis on the use of scaling, Einstein notation, and physical intuition.
Undergraduate Courses
Research Project Laboratory, BIO 4590 Spring 2010
I completely restructured this pre-existing course around a new theme on mechanics of ant aggregations, created a semester’s worth of new lectures and built new laboratory equipment for the course for the study of ant locomotion. Particular attention was paid to teaching biologists to perform quantitative mechanical measurements.
Fluid Mechanics, ME 3340 Fall 2008, Fall 2009
I taught this course with an emphasis on biomechanics and flows in nature. I introduced a new 2-week module on scaling and dimensional analysis and its use in nature.
Thermal Fluids Engineering, ME3720: Fall 2010
Directory: PeoplePeople -> Math 4630/5630 Homework 4 Solutions Problem Solving ipPeople -> Handling IndivisibilitiesPeople -> San José State University Social Science/Psychology Psych 175, Management Psychology, Section 1, Spring 2014People -> YiChang ShihPeople -> Marios S. Pattichis image and video Processing and Communication Lab (ivpcl)People -> Peoples Voice Café HistoryPeople -> Sa michelson, 2011: Impact of Sea-Spray on the Atmospheric Surface Layer. Bound. Layer Meteor., 140 ( 3 ), 361-381, doi: 10. 1007/s10546-011-9617-1, issn: Jun-14, ids: 807TW, sep 2011 Bao, jw, cw fairall, sa michelsonPeople -> Curriculum vitae sara a. MichelsonPeople -> Curriculum document state board of education howard n. Lee, CPeople -> A hurricane track density function and empirical orthogonal function approach to predicting seasonal hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin Elinor Keith April 17, 2007 Abstract
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